Practitioners of humoral theory took the idea of a balanced diet to a whole new level as they incorporated the consumption of food and drink into their medical belief system. A prevalent medical practice in medieval and early-modern Europe, humoral theory has its roots as far back as Hippocrates and Galen in ancient Greece. The four [Read more]
Bernard Becker Medical Library is fortunate to have robust collections in archives and rare books that document the history of medicine from the late 15th century up to the present. Subjects in which the library’s holdings are particularly strong include ophthalmology and optics, neurology, deaf education and the history of dentistry. To encourage researchers living [Read more]
“I came here with kind of the idea of opening up doors and trying to get the school involved in doing things for minorities” – Julian Mosley, MD, 1990 As a student at Washington University School of Medicine, Julian C. Mosley, Jr., MD, was instrumental in advocating for Black students. In the in the late [Read more]
One of the joys of reading primary sources is that it can provide us with a direct window into the past—browsing through an old distillation manual can lead down the path of researching medicinal cannibalism, or mentions of moon phases can provoke a segue into medical astrology. But it isn’t just the words that can [Read more]
An extensive index to Washington University Medical Center publications is now available via the Becker Archives. This new resource consists of nearly 7,000 index headings for faculty, staff, departments, programs and events related to the School of Medicine and its affiliated hospitals. Collectively, the headings point to over 35,000 unique citations in medical center [Read more]
Some say that the coronavirus vaccines are a ploy to inject the public with microchips that will constantly track your location; others claim that they’ll hook you up to the 5G network and make you explode. Some people think that the vaccine will rewrite your DNA in order to work, while others tweet about how [Read more]
On March 18, sixteen intrepid Phase I medical students headed to Italy to spend spring break exploring the connections between anatomy and art in Renaissance Italy. Spending three nights in Venice and three nights in Florence, they went on a whirlwind tour of some of the most important sites in the history of medicine and [Read more]
The Becker Archives has acquired the collected papers of Dr. Jerry Cox (1925-2023), who founded the Biomedical Computer Laboratory at the Washington University School of Medicine in 1964. This impressive acquisition comprehensively documents his four-decade career at the university, which included pioneering research and developments in biomedical computing, PET scanning, and computer technology applications in healthcare. [Read more]
Becker Library’s newest exhibit, “In Their Own Words: Stories of Desegregation at Washington University Medical Center,” highlights the experiences of Black people and their allies who faced institutional racism and fought for change. Learn more about the stories and topics presented in the exhibit with these resources.
To encourage researchers living more than 100 miles from St. Louis to use these collections, Becker Library offers two grants annually of up to $1,000 each to help defray the costs of travel, lodging, food and photo reproductions. Covered expenses will be reimbursed at the conclusion of the visit. Apply by March 1, 2023.